To hear the Fairfax press (and plenty of other Western media outlets) tell it, Palestinian rocket strikes on Israeli suburbs are just legitimate, routine affairs – really, nothing more than just a slightly extreme way for a local government to register its disapproval of Israel.

No, what’s really outrageous is the Israel’s response. Not only did the IDF target terrorists like Ahmed Said Khalil al-Jabari responsible for the rocket attacks, they had the audacity to go and tweet about it:

“In so doing, in fewer than 140 characters, Israel opened an aggressive new social media front in a long war, sparking fears of an escalation of conflict in the Middle East…”

By way of balance, the Herald does note, in the very-very-very last paragraph of the story, that “By Thursday night, at least 145 rockets from Gaza had struck Israel’s south over the previous 24 hours, including one that struck a home in the city of Kiryat Malachi, killing three people, according to an Israeli police spokesman.”

I had the same response Steve – I assumed once I heard the details, I’d wholeheartedly appove.

Now that I have, I do.

I recall in my dim dark youth there was a view that “you don’t f*** with Israel” (probably due to their response to the Munich Olympics). It seems they’ve let Hamas “f*** with them” a bit lately. Maybe they’re correcting that.

Also, I thougth Bill Shorten was being ironic at the time, i.e. to actually acknowledge the debacle that is policy development in that mob. I do now think he was speaking literally, unfortunately.